Pages

This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 670,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it.

Friday, August 20, 2010

"An Introduction," by Randy Warren

An IntroductionBy Randy Warrenperformed at the Sedona Poetry Slam in June

Well first to start it seems appropriate to let you knowthat I was sent to help you all remember who you are.I know to some of you I might begin to look familiar;that’s because we all go back together very far.

The only difference that there is between us isI can remember all this shit while your amnesia remains.It’s not to say that I’m superior;I simply made the choice to be the oneto help you out of your brains.

So right now, just sit back, and relax, and reflect,and take a deep breath, let it out and do it again.It’s me your old pal Randy, I just came back to help you alland you can trust me ‘cause we’re all friends.

Now all you need to know about yourself, at least to start,is that you all are basically alone in a dream.And you can wake up any time you know,it’s not that there’s some external factor,some mind-control beam.

You just like it this waywith the balls all in play.You like the sea of probabilitieswith you as the “X”.

But let me tell you,when you stop playing the victimthen you’re basically God,and life is basically sex.

The first thing you gotta do,is let go of being you.

You’re gonna be you anyway,and this’ll give you more room to play.

‘Cause you’re basically a hologram,a projection of I-Am-That-I-Am.

And when you let your human go,then you will instantly start toknow, and grow, and flow, and showyourself all that you need to knowso you can start to let it goand feel good all the time, althoughthere will be times when you’ll say “no”‘cause you’re addicted to the Show.The up and down, the ebb and flow,is all just food for your ego,let it go, let it go, let it go,let it go go go go

Go within and you will see that you create realityby your perceptions and projectionsyou make it real.

And now the next step is for you to drop the actand stop reacting to the stimulusas if you’re a seal.

If there’s a God, then He’s an It, and It’s a They,and They are Us,no wonder we all think so much of ourselves.

The other side of that is we’re all really God,we all forgot while we were occupied enjoying ourselves.

And now, it’s time for usto drop all the bullshit and just be Awesome.

And I am here to seethe spinach in the teeth of your soul,and help you floss’em.

So that’ll do it for now, my name is Randy,like I said I came to help you all remember who you are.

If you have questions you can reach me via email,or to contact me directly you can wish upon a star.

Before I leave I wanna leave you with somethingthat’ll help you feel better,when you feel very bad.

A simple truth that I have tested time and time again,it’s guaranteed to lift you up when you’re feeling sad.

(deep breath!)

If there’s a God then God is you and you are Godand there is no separation, just two names for the same.

So anything that happens,must be what you want to happen,otherwise how could it happen,no one to blame.

So when you find yourself resisting the present,lamenting and resenting what is lain at your door,just take a moment to remember you are Godand as a god you have good taste,you only choose what you adore.

And in this moment you have chosenyou are perfectly aligned with All That Isall of the time, you know.

There is no other truth,that is the way it is,there is no other way,there is no other truth to know.

So even in the shittiest of timesit doesn’t change the simple factthat everything is always Perfection.

And if you see the world as shit,it may occur to youthat maybe the problem’syour shitty perception.

And if you want to live a life of joy and happinessthe first and only stepis just to let it all in.

And when you finally let the pain fall away,all the joy will rush in,and life will truly begin.My name is Randy and I came here just to be the oneto tell you all the things that you all already know.

And now that I am here,you just relax and have no fear,it’s time to crack another beerand enjoy the show!

According to his bio, Randy Warren is an ascended master of the material illusion. He has come to Earth to assist in smoothing the transition into the new age. While here, he enjoys many forms of expression, including poetry. Feel free to contact him and offer him money for his myriad talents.

CFG the slam poet

Fox the Poet

Christopher Fox Grahamis a Montana-born boy raised in Arizona to be a poet, artist, and singer with unending wanderlust. He's fascinated with art and other shiny things, a good story will keep him captivated and silent as he soaks you in.

In truth, he is good at only three things: using language, kissing, and driving.

He has performed for MTV and on The Travel Channel's "Your Travel Guide" episode of Sedona. Aside from winning more than 100 poetry slams, he's published four books of poetry, most recently The Opposite of Camouflage, and won the 2012 Dylan Thomas Award for Excellence in the Written and Spoken Word.

A slam poet since 2001, he currently hosts the bimonthly Sedona Poetry Slam in West Sedona.

For nearly four years, he was the senior Copy Editor of the Sedona Red Rock News, and an arts reporter and a columnist. He wrote a weekly column "Sedona Underground," about the city's art scene. After leaving in May 2008, he was asked to return as Assistant Managing Editor in October 2009. He was promoted to News Editor in April 2012 and in August 2012 was promoted to Managing Editor, overseeing the Sedona Red Rock News,The Camp Verde Journal, Cottonwood Journal Extra, The Scene and The Village View.

He has won numerous personal and editorial newsroom awards from the Arizona Newspapers Association, including three awards for Best Headline.

He was the managing editor of Kudos, a weekly arts and entertainment publication of the Verde Independent. He was also managing editor of The Villager, a weekly news publication in the Village of Oak Creek.

He is one the six coordinators of GumptionFest a kickass, annual, one-day grassroots arts festival held in Sedona, this year in September. More than 100 artists and bands exhibit their work for free to more than 1,200 people.

In 2005, he founded the Sedona Poetry Open Mic, which he hosted biweekly at Java Love Cafe on second and fourth Tuesdays until 2012. A former venue included Random Acts of Coffee, in Sedona, which closed in June 2005. The venue named a drink after him which one can order an various coffeehouses in Sedona. The "Topher": A large soy chai with two (or three) shots of espresso. Serve iced or hot. He was member of the city of Sedona Child and Youth Commission for two years and chairman for another two years before the commission was dissolved in 2008.

He has been unofficially named "The Voice of the Underground," in Sedona for his column "Sedona Underground" that appeared every Friday in The Scene. for more than three years, featuring more than 150 artists.

He won the 2004 NORAZ Poets Grand Slam, the 2005 Arizona All-Star Poetry Slam, and was a member of the 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2013 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Teams. He was also a National Poetry Slam bout manager in 2003, venue manager in 2011, and Sedona Slammaster in 2012, 2013 and 2014, sponsoring the city's first three Sedona National Poetry Slam Teams.

He believes that all slam poets are Jedis.

He has been thrown out of six movie theaters, 18 bars, a Las Vegas nightclub with his girlfriend, a public pool, two malls, four golf courses, one bowling alley, five dorms, one airport, one pet store, a now-defunct nonprofit poetry organization ... and Canada. Seriously.